Prefabricated dog house



Oct. 29, 1946.

J. J. LATURA PREFABRICATED DOG HOUSE Filed Apfil 20, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR v Jam JaJE/W 197 477 Oct. 29, 1946. J. J. LATURA I 2,410,221

PREFABRICATED DOG HOUSE I Filed April 20, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheetj 2 Q JINVIIINTOR.

5 10 Jomv .laagnv 487 /49 Patented Oct. 29, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE John Joseph Latura, Memphis, 'lenn. Application April 20, 1945; Serial No. 589,305

- 1 Thi invention relates to dog houses or other small structures of the same general class which are designed for manufacture in fabricated units for assemblies substantially without tools.

Structures of this type have been numerously proposed from time to time, but all have been, so far as is known, subject to objections which have rendered them more or less useless.

"The objects of the present invention are:

f To make a structure, the parts of which are prefabricated, which-may be readily assembled and which when assembled will accomplish a sturdy structure braced against strains of substantially any nature whatsoever, andsubstantially water-proof.

A further object is to make a structure which employs interlocking sliding joints which irrespective of the material used for the primary structural parts are not subject to warping or otherdistortion due a to moisture and in which ease of interlocking of the parts is always assured. A further object isto provide a structure which utilizes the advantages of plywood in'accomplishing the stiffness and strength with light weight. -A furtherobject is toprovide a'progre'ssive as- Sa my through slidably interlocking joints and a singlefastening which willcomplete the securing ofthe structure in'interlocked relation.

'I'he means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished, and the manner of their accomplishment, will be readily understood from the following specification upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Fig. 1 is a perspective view 'of the house in its preferred form. g p

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse section taken as onthe line IIII of Fig. .1 showin interlocking of'thefloor and side walls;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken as on the line III-III of Fig. 1, showing locking of the roof to the sidewalls. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken as on the line IV-IV ofFig. 1, showing inter-locking of an end and side wall.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing detail of one of the floor and side wall connections, shown in Fig. 2.

1 Claim. (Cl. 2'0-2) Fig. is a fragmentary section taken on the line X-X of Figs. 1 and 11.

Fig. 11 is an inverted plan view of the roof.

Fig. 12 is an elevation of one of the side walls showing the inner side of the wall.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the floor; and

Figs. 14 and 15 elevations of the inner sides of the rear and front walls respectively showing onehalf only of each.

Referring now to the drawings in which the various parts are indicated by numerals:

The'hollse comprises a floor II, side walls [3, front wall 15, rear wall l1, and roof l9, all prefabricated for assembly and, in Fig. 1, shown as I assembled into a house, with the front portion of the floor extending forwardly of the front wall I 5 an intermediate point to'unde'rlie the'front wall [5; and at the forward end of the floor, the floor sheet beingsuitably secured to the frame mem-' bers asby nailing. The floor sheet is cut away over a part of the width of the side members 2| for the length of the side wall so that the side walls may seat directly on the floor members, and these members are provided for the length ofthe side walls and these floor-free portions with Fig. 6 is a section of the bottom rail of the I floor; and

Fig. '7 of the side wall rail, shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the inter-locking joint members of Fig. 6 as assembly is being made.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentarysectional elevation on the line IX-IX of Fig. 1. I

grooves 25 preferably undercut, which are lined with sheet metal liners 2'1 of such under-cut shape, the liners being secured in the grooves as by screws. Transvers'ely overlying the floor beams 23 and 23A are T-shaped metal members 29 which formssealing or weather strips for the bottom edges of the back and front walls, these beingof the shape shown for the front wall in section in Fig. 9.

The side wall units each comprise a sheet [3 having its upper edge I3A sloped to conform to the desired roof slope, the sheet being secured to an inner frame which includes an upper member 3| extending the length of the sheet, and flush at its upper edge with the top of the'sheet, a lower member 33 also extending the length of the sheet and spaced the depth of the floor member 2! above the lower edge of the sheet so that when assembled, as in Fig. 5, the sheet will cover the side of the floor member; and front and back members 35 and 31 which extend between the top and bottom members and are flush with the front and back edges of the sheet. The top member 3| has in its upper surface a groove 3|A extending from end to end and lined, as are the fiOOr grooves, with a metal liner 21. Underlying the bottom member and secured thereto is a. tongu 33A of complementary cross section to the grooves 25 in the floor sheet and adapted to be slidably nested and inter-locked therewith. Th frame members 35 and 3! also are provided on their inner surface with tongues 35A, 31A, these and the tongue 33A preferably being of sheet metal, as the tongues 39 detailed in Figs. 5, 7 and 8, and attached to the frame members as by screws.

The front wall unit has a wall sheet l with a door opening A therethrough and is provided with frame members comprising vertically disposed members 4| extending from to edge to bottom edge of the wall, and top and bottom members 43, 45 extending therebetween, the bottom member being shOWn as out through by the door. The back wall unit has a wall sheet l1, top frame members 41,-bottom members 49- and side members 5|. The side members M of the front unit and 5| of the back unit are spaced from the sides of their respective sheets, the thickness of the side wall members 35 and 31 are provided respectively with grooves 4|A, 5IA extending-from top to bottom to conform to and inter-lock with the tongues 35, 31A of the side wall members. These grooves preferably are provided with liners 21, as are, the other heretofore described grooves. The bottom rails 45 and 49 are provided with grooves 45A, 49A respectively for engagement with the weather strips 29, and these grooves ar preferably protected by sheet metal liners 29A, (Fig. 9). e

The sheet 19 forming the roof is somewhat wider and longer than the'floor sheet to provide side and rear-cave portions. I

Secured to the underside of the roof sheet are tongues'53 which are complementary to and 4 side wall units slid into place until stopped by termination of the grooves. The bottoms of the front wall grooves 4IA are engaged with the tongues A of the side walls and the back wall grooves 5|A with the side wall tongues 39A and these walls slid downwardly to place with the grooves 45A of the front wall and the grooves 49A of the back wall engaging the weather strips 29 of the floor. The inter-locking tongues and grooves of the end and side Walls locking the side and end walls together, and the weather strips anchoring the walls against fore and aft shifting.

The back ends of the roof tongues 53 are engaged with the grooves 3IA of the side walls and the roof slid backward until stopped by contact of the bracket 53 with th front wall l5, after which engagement and tightening of the thumb screw anchors the roof and completes fastening of the entire structure together.

Iclaim: g v

A structure including a prefabricatedfioor unit,

a pair of side wall units, a front wall unit, a back end wall unit and a roof unit; said floor unit comprising a pair of longitudinal frame members, a plurality of transverse frame members and a floor sheet secured to said frame members; said side wall units each comprising a sidewall sheet, an upper member and a lower member, said side wall sheet being secured to said upper and lower members, said lower membersbeing each'spaced above the lower edge of the said wall sheet secured thereto,each said lower member carrying.

a longitudinal tongue; said floor unit being of a interlock with the grooves BIA in the tops of the side wall members 3 l, metal tongues, as the metal tongues 39, (Fig. '7) preferably being used. 55 is a bracket secured to the underside of the roof as by screws,and positioned to abut against the front wall when the roof is in place. et includes a downwardly extending leg 55A, which is apertured for a thumb screw 51 (Fig. 10). 59 is'a'nut embedded in the front wall top member and secured by th overlying wall sheet l5. a r

' In assembling, the front ends of the tongues 33A of the side wall units are engaged in the back of the grooves 25 of the floor unit and the This bracksaid side wall units, said floor sheet being cut away along each side above said longitudinal frame members for the length of said side wall.

units to form shoulders; a channel along the upwardly disposed surface of each of said longitudinal framemembers, said channels terminating at saidshoulders, said tonguemembers slidably engaging said channels to join-said wall units to said floor unit, said shoulders limiting forward movement of said sidewall units along said floorunit; slidably engaged interlocking, means joining said-end wall units to said side wall units, cooperative means carried by said floor sheet and said end wall units, locking said side wall units against backward movement along,

said floor unit, slidablyengaged interlock-ing means securing said roof unit to saidside wall units, said ;roof unitoverlying said side wall units and said end walls to prevent disengagement of said end walls, and means securing said roof against longitudinal displacement relatively to said wall. f x

JOHN JOSEPH LATURA. 

